Wife Is Indicted In Man's Death

Auto mechanic Jon Newell didn't have an enemy in the world, his co-workers said.

But homicide detectives say he did have a $200,000 insurance policy and an unfaithful wife.

An Orange County grand jury handed up an indictment Monday accusing Karen Newell, 29, and her boyfriend Peter Giffen, 18, of first-degree murder in last month's shooting of Jon Newell, 31.

Newell was gunned down Feb. 20 alongside State Road 520 east of Orlando, where he stopped his car to check on a noise. The killing at first appeared to be a botched robbery on the country road just north of the Bee Line Expressway.

Karen Newell told investigators three men pulled off the road, shot her husband and sped off.

Investigators now think it was Giffen who stopped by the roadside with the Newells. The three had been at the beach and were on their way home.

Giffen lived with the Newells at 5348 Brownell St., northwest of Orlando, and was having an affair with the wife, Orange County homicide Sgt. Mike Easton said.

The Newells were married last year in Las Vegas.

After the shooting, Karen Newell told investigators she was pregnant, which proved to be false, Easton said.

She was charged in February with violating her probation from an earlier forgery charge and was in the Orange County Jail when the indictment was filed. Giffen was arrested last week in Port St. Lucie and returned to the Orlando jail.

Investigators began to suspect Karen Newell and Giffen after noticing inconsistencies in their stories, said Randy Means, spokesman for the state attorney's office.

Further evidence came from comments Karen Newell had made to her fellow inmates, Easton said.